


Rather Banged Up

by katikat



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Episode Related, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 21:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14723612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: A what-if set in MacGyver’s ep 103. Mac and broken ribs. That’s all. Jack’s POV. (Unbeta'd)





	Rather Banged Up

After they hand Ralph over to the Exfil, they head back to the airport, to where their jet’s waiting, just a bunch of bored, filthy rich Americans on their way home from their exotic vacation. Nothing to see here.

But Jack  _sees_. He sees the way Mac’s holding himself, the way he gingerly climbs the steps, the way he even  _more_ carefully lowers himself down onto the couch, fisting his hands into the leather so hard his knuckles turn white, breath quick and shallow.

“Alright, hoss, spill,” Jack says as Riley curls up in her seat with her laptop and the door of the plane slides shut and seals with a soft hiss. He remains standing over Mac with his hands on his hips and an accusing frown on his face.

Mac lifts his head and the innocent look he gives Jack would be far more convincing if his face weren’t slick with sweat. “ _What_?” he croaks out.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jack insists. “My grandpa had more spring in his step a week before his trip to the Great Unknown. You look like you might shatter if I poked you.” The he lifts his eyebrows. “Shall I poke you and see?”

“No!” Mac blurts out, then hisses, squeezing his eyes shut.

That finally grabs Riley’s attention, too. “Mac?” she asks, looking up from her laptop to frown at him uncertainly.

Mac takes a slow breath and then, with a sigh, he succumbs. “I might have, uh, a broken rib or two,” he admits reluctantly.

“Where?” Jack asks, and when Mac touches the lower right side of his ribcage, Jack drops into a crouch in front of him and gestures. “Show me.”

Together, they carefully manage to pull Mac’s shirt up - and seeing the damage, Riley hisses sharply. The right side of Mac’s ribcage is already turning purple, the bruise spreading from one particular spot, and when Jack runs his fingers over it, as gently as he can manage and still do the job and check, Mac flinches and whines, unable to stifle the sound of pain.

“Sorry, sorry,” Jack murmurs softly. “Yeah, it’s broken alright. At least one rib.” Sighing again, he rubs his forehead. “And you’re an  _idiot_. Why didn’t you tell me before? Exfil could’ve taken you home together with Ralph. This needs looking at and our jet’s a fast bird, sure, but it’ll still take hours for us to get back to LA.”

“Like Thornton said, D77 has its people within the government here,” Mac points out, dropping his shirt, still holding himself gingerly. “After the ruckus we caused, if you showed up here, at the airport, one member short, that wouldn’t be suspicious  _at all_ , right?” Sarcasm’s literally dripping from his voice.

Jack smacks him on the knee lightly. “Don’t be a smartass. When did it actually happen?” he asks then because he honestly can’t remember, looking back.

“At the warehouse,” Mac replies truthfully. “While I was getting Ralph out. I got jumped.”

“And you didn’t call for help  _why_?” Jack snaps, his voice climbing with annoyance.

Mac glares at him. “I  _did_. But you were kind of busy, remember? Giant guy? Wouldn’t stay down?” he reminds Jack pointedly.

Oh, right. That.

“Besides,” Mac continues. “I handled it.”

“Sure,” Jack mutters.

Well, nothing to do about that now, he guesses. They were lucky to get in and out alive and with Ralph to revive him, too, he knows, and if Mac’s broken ribs are the only injury they suffered among the three of them, then it was a good day’s work. Still, it’s Jack’s job to make sure Mac  _doesn’t_ get hurt, that’s the whole point of being his bodyguard.

“Okay,” Jack says, and getting up, he turns to Riley. “Riley, could you bring me an ice pack and painkillers from the first aid kit? You know where it is.”

She nods, then she sets her laptop aside and scrambles to her feet to get it.

Then Jack pulls out a couple of pillows from the overhead compartment and fluffs them up before dropping them on the couch. “Up you go,” he tells Mac, crouching back down to rid Mac of his shoes, before helping him turn sideways on the couch. He lifts Mac’s legs up onto the couch, then he takes him by the shoulders and helps him lie down slowly. It’s a testimony to how much the ribs must be hurting Mac that he allows this treatment without a single complaint. 

“Alright?” Jack asks when Mac settles down.

Mac just nods, eyes squeezed shut.

Then Riley’s back with the painkillers, an ice pack and a bottle of water. Jack accepts them with a nod and helps Mac swallow a couple of the large white pills. “If you need more,  _do_ tell me,  _please_?” he says in an exasperated tone of voice. Because he’s known the kid for years and he knows that Mac could be bleeding out and still insist on being _just fine_.

With a pale smile, Mac nods.

“Okay, this will sting,” Jack warns before he lifts Mac shirt and gently presses the ice pack to the bruised area. He winces when Mac groans and instinctively tries to twist away before catching himself and holding still. “Give it a moment.”

It’s not a moment, actually, it takes quite a while before Mac relaxes a little as the pain medication and the ice pack take effect. “Thanks,” he mumbles, eyes closed and already nodding off.

No wonder, Jack thinks, knowing from his own experience just how potent these pills are. He hopes they knock Mac out for the duration of the flight.

When the captain lets them know that they’re about to take off, Jack covers Mac with a blanket and then he drops down into the seat opposite Riley, who’s back on her laptop, typing away. She lifts her head and glances in Mac’s direction, then back at Jack.

“Will he be okay?” she asks, a little worried.

Fastening his seatbelt, Jack nods. “Yeah. Unfortunately, this is not the first time one of us returns home from a mission banged up.” He looks at Mac and smiles fondly. “It’ll hurt like hell for a while but he’ll be just fine.”

And then the plane starts rolling down the runway and as it shakes and rattles, speeding up, Jack’s glad that Mac’s already fast asleep, not feeling a thing. 

_Damn fool!_


End file.
